The CRAP chute: November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

IMPORTANT SCHOLARSHIP SITES

Much of the discussion, I participated in on the Fiscal Cliff spoke to global competitiveness and STEM education. One of the recurring concerns of the business community is the lack of qualified applicants to fill available positions.

The following email was forwarded to me. Please pass this information along!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Angela Goes to Washington

As many of you know, I was invited to the White House to participate in a discussion on the issues collectively known as the Fiscal Cliff. The experience has left me deeply appreciative for our tri-cameral legislative system, our current administration and, the wondrous ingenuity and innovation of American businesses.

The room was filled with the most diverse group of business leaders I have ever had the privilege of being part of- in one space. I do not pretend to be an expert in the tax code, economics or political science. Even though I am none of those, I had the opportunity, not only to be present, but, voice my questions and concerns and, have them answered by senior level staff. It afforded me the opportunity to gather a deeper understanding of the concerns on both sides of the fence. It provided knowledge and insight I have the privilege of sharing with you.

For most of us, the language of economic policy goes directly over our heads. Not because, we are not intelligent enough to understand, but more simply, it is nearly impossible to figure out exactly how those policy changes impact us. The sheer grandeur of the numbers discussed is intimidating. Who knows what a billion or trillion dollars actually means? If I told you that if you spent one dollar every second of every day for the next 30 years you still wouldn’t have spent a billion dollars, would you believe it? Can you imagine how long a trillion would take? Outside of the world of economic discussion, those numbers are utterly foreign to most people. I will not even attempt to explain GDP and the fact that ALL economic plans are a relative percentage of GDP, not just tax rate. If I tried to, I’d have to come up with a simple way of explaining that our tax rate is the lowest percentage of GDP in nearly 2 decades.

There are even those who believe, with some merit that the Fiscal Cliff isn’t a cliff at all. It more like a rolling decline- call it a curb. No matter how you term the coming January 2nd cut off, in an effort to make it a little simpler, here are my takeaways regarding the “Fiscal Cliff”.

The Fiscal Cliff for dummies (myself included)…

What is the “Cliff”? Here, is the Cliff notes version –pun intended.

In 2001 and 2003 President G.W. Bush enacted a series of tax cuts (the Bush tax cuts) for both middle class and upper income Americans. The cuts reduced income taxes to free up additional spendable income per household. These cuts, set to expire on 1/2/13, represent about a $2000.00 per family tax hike for the average American. The tax increase is obviously relative to your total earned income and, therefore, hits higher earners harder than lower earners. You have likely heard that the expiration of these tax cuts returns us to the tax rates during the Clinton (you’d think it was the Golden) Era.

The word sequestration may sound familiar to you. Last year; during the Congressionally created completely avoidable debt ceiling debacle, the Tea party and its cohorts forced the passing of a debt reduction proposal so distasteful to EVERYONE that no one ever thought it would stand a chance of becoming actual policy. It passed to keep government functioning and, to buy time to write a real policy proposal that wouldn’t arbitrarily hack billions from the Federal budget (completely irresponsibly).

The Fiscal Cliff is the combination of both the tax cuts expiring and the implementation of the automatic spending cuts, sequestration. It is attention worthy because the results of these combined actions could have profound negative impact on the US economy.

I’m not sure if there’s anyone who watches the news who hasn’t heard of Simpson-Bowles. Short version, the 2011 commission formed to analyze the national debt and develop a plan to attack the deficit and stabilize the economy. The President’s plan and the Ryan budget are measured against the Simpson-Bowles analysis. It has bipartisan support and the support of the business community. (Call it the fiscal golden child.) The most notable thing to know about Simpson-Bowles: it begins with the assumption that ALL the Bush tax cuts are expired.

So here’s what you need to know.

The Ryan plan is absurd. The numbers do not add up. It is a bunch of magic math, most of which attacks entitlements, to the tune of 58% of the savings in his plan. It guts the wrong end of discretionary spending and further defunds critical social programs that can’t afford any more cuts. It has no new revenue creation (no new money comes in because it refuses to raise taxes on the wealthy). Instead, it closes unspecified tax loopholes, known to you and I as tax credits. Putting things like mortgage interest, marriage, college tuition and, other vital middle class building incentives on the chopping block. It does, however, successfully rescue the upper income tax reductions.

The President’s plan isn’t perfect, but, assuredly protects more American families and American small and medium businesses, roughly 98% and 97% respectively, by keeping the middle class tax cuts. It cuts entitlements, but, by only 8% and since it allows the upper income tax cuts to expire it off sets the cost of necessary spending. That means the average American household gets to hang on to that $2000.00 cut in both the Ryan budget and Simpson-Bowles plan. The plan leaves Social Security off the table, refusing to cut benefits when SS does not add anything to the national debt and our seniors and disabled Americans rely on those dollars. It begins to address the debt more effectively than the Ryan plan. For those of you whom 10 year projections matter, it shrinks spending by $640 billion, where the Ryan plan adds $3.1 trillion.

The fact is the best solution for all our tax and deficit woes is increasing the GDP. Well, that can only be done if people are spending more and buying more, that $2000.00 per household will be an integral part. Businesses don't expand or hire with worries of new crisis- real or imagined, coming out of Washington. So, whether you are Fiscal Cliff phobic or a Cliff jumper the reality is that the American economy is consumer driven. Congress is in no position to play chicken with American solvency. Our President and his administration committed to including as many voices in making final policy decisions as possible. That commitment is undermined when we allow special interest groups, in this case the ultra wealthy, to protect their wealth by exploiting everyone else’s.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Let Us Give Thanks....

For many Americans, Thanksgiving is a time when we get together with our families, break bread, reflect on the year behind us and, the years in front of us. We laugh a lot, watch football, carve turkeys, hams and gorge on sweet potato or pumpkin pies. In my family, we pray and then eat and then eat some more.

This year, as many American families reflect and pray, there will be those thankful for Health Insurance. Through Obamacare, families across the country will be grateful for the ability to see a doctor or receive a test that previously was outside of the spending limits set by their insurance company. There is something profanely wrong with that, both morally and economically.

Our culture has consistently moved in the wrong direction where the care of our citizens is concerned. The ER is no replacement for preventative care and, the economics of emergency room treatment is staggering. However, the biggest cost isn’t the ER bill. It’s the overall lack of productivity and diminished capacity linked to poor health. When we are a healthy nation medically we are a sound nation economically.

I asked our guest blogger, Dr. Pamela Ross, a distinguished faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Founding CEO of Holistic Medical Consultants to weigh in on the matter. My hope is that when the holiday is over, and we resume our day to day lives, we invest in caring for ourselves so that next year, we can be thankful for our health, not just the health insurance.

The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) has become reality but asserts perspective that people need health insurance when what they actually need is healthcare. A prevalent mismatch may surface as a result of this law. Increases in the number of patients with health insurance compared to shortages in the number of primary care doctors available to care for them. You may not get the healthcare you had in mind in spite of being insured. Monumental collaboration will be required to fine tune glitches in the healthcare law.

Time to come to terms with a simple truth about healthcare. Primary care begins with YOU – not a doctor. Prevention is more optimal than the misery of struggling for cure. As The Socially Conscious Doctor, I’ll start with Thanksgiving - the holiday season for giving thanks and, unfortunately, for gluttony.

Let us give thanks for healthcare law that works to empower patients, end insurance company abuses, and create opportunities for better health outcomes for all citizens. And let us give thanks for the food we are about to receive… Savory mouthfuls of juicy turkey and herbed dressing smothered with richly seasoned gravy… Candied yams, bacon wrapped green beans, corn and hot buttered rolls that melt in your mouth… Hearty servings of aromatic cakes, pies and cobblers… [If your mouth watered while reading, note the mind-body connection.]

Now, take your dominant hand and cup it as if you’re going to hold something - like a bunch of peanuts. Three or four of these “hand cups” is an excellent approximation for how much it actually takes to fill your stomach. Even after your stomach is full you can keep going because it stretches like a balloon. It can stretch up to 50 times its normal size. If you constantly overeat, your stomach stretches to a new normal. You will still feel hungry when your stomach should actually be full. A constantly overstretched stomach leads to a lot of health problems – reflux, gastroparesis, constipation, esophageal ulcers, and obesity - just to name a few.

Avoid the misery of struggling for cures and try these 5 tips to prevent gluttony and “GI drama”:

1. Turn eating into an exercise in mindfulness. Before you eat, visualize a process for how your food got from where it started to your plate. Visualize a barnyard, field, garden or factory where it was grown, harvested or manufactured. Visualize workers who may have been a part of processing your food. In some instances you might loose interest in eating certain foods if you understood where it came from.

2. Before eating – inhale the aroma of your food. This sends olfactory signals to your brain, stimulating a cascade of biochemical processes that prepare your GI track for digestion. Your watering mouth and stomach secrete enzymes that break down food so it can be turned into basic chemicals your body will use or store.

3. Chew your food thoroughly. Chew your food until it is like liquid. This helps further activate digestive processes in your stomach/colon for proper transport of nutrients. It also gives time for your brain to send a biochemical signal that you are full.

4. Smaller portions. Three or four “hand cups” of highly nutritional food every three or four hours can bring better results than eating one or two very large meals a day. Grab a smaller plate (without going for seconds) to help keep portions smaller.

5. Take a walk. No jogging necessary – just walk. This promotes movement of food through your digestive tract. It can decrease reflux that occurs when you lie down with a full stomach. It also helps burn calories and promote weight loss.

Although you have health insurance, your body has a tremendous capacity for innate healing without requiring a bankroll of pharmaceutical drugs or expensive medical technology. If you have made a habit of transforming from thankful to Thanksgiving Glutton or if you ever had to see a doctor for GI problems related to your eating habits, you can improve your health by activating the first step in primary care. Care for yourself. Take mindful steps toward eating more thoughtfully, slowly, and purposefully.

If you can change your mind you can change your life. Thoughts become words become actions become habits become character becomes destiny. You can think improved health into existence. Remember, primary care begins with YOU.

Be well!

Dr. Pamela Ross The Socially (and Spiritually) Conscious Doctor

Dr. Pamela Ross received her MD degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA and is a board certified Emergency Physician who completed fellowships in Pediatrics and Integrative Medicine. She is a distinguished faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Founding CEO of Holistic Medical Consultants. Contact: www.drpamelaross.com | @DrPamelaRoss | facebook.com/DrPamelaRoss

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Cost Of War

My intention was to write about Scandals, Secession and flat out Stupidity. As has become the norm, politics has left us with no shortage of memes and overly dramatized faux controversies to salivate over.

However, today when I opened my Facebook page and was confronted with the realities of living life in the peaceful bubble we call the US of A, I had a moment of complete clarity and a downright “Come to Jesus”.

Their faces were tiny, covered in blood with pieces of them missing. There was haunting serenity around their eyes and mouth that left me teary eyed. There were three of them. The oldest couldn’t have been more than 6. His mother, sister and, brother lay prostrate near his feet, each with clear wounds across their bodies as they lay dead in the streets.

The jarring photo made my stomach knot and my hands shake. I tear now as I think of their little bodies, dressed as if for school. All of their potential ended by the violent solutions old men, who remain untouched by the bloodshed, chose. I sat in judgment and heartbreak, disgusted with a world that lives in the relative security of it happening “over there”.

Though my husband is former military and, I know more men and women than I can count who have served our country proudly, there is a reason no one talks about what happens “over there” to anyone who has never been “over there”.

We talk about freedom without understanding the price paid for it. We get the right to discuss arms deals, trade embargoes, or foreign aid from living rooms free of bullets or bombs raining down from on high. We tuck our kids safely into bed at night and go to sleep. We know that tomorrow we will kiss their faces as they get out of bed and fuss at them on their way to school. WE have those rights because of the families who face tragedy. Spouses that pray, children without parents, the men and women who deploy and don’t come back, the soldiers that deploy and don’t come back the same from wars we send them to and don’t have to fight.

America has not fought a war on her shores since the Civil War, so, the next time someone talks about who a general is sleeping with, who a socialite emails, or accuses a US Ambassador of lying about American lives lost. The next time Trump calls for revolution or some idiot suggests Secession, show them this. Show them the cost of what they are calling for. What they are encouraging. The next time the warmongers think it’s a good idea to threaten invasion or to keep our troops on constant deployments. Remind them that this is what our soldiers have to see and then come home and be citizens, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives. Remind them.

This is cost of war.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Financial Apocalypse of 2013

You have probably seen a lot of his projects without ever knowing his name, but Producer Darryl Taja, President of Epidemic Pictures and Management (www.epidemicpictures.com), is a quiet power behind some huge Hollywood hits. Over the last decade, he has made quite a name for himself. Not just as a film producer, but as a highly respected go-to guy in the film industry and, the business community at large. Sought after for sound business consulting and much more, Taja has carved out his niche. In an open letter he so generously is allowing the CRAP chute to publish, he urges all to get involved and force Congress to act responsibly to solve the Fiscal Cliff.

Read it, share it and, call your Congressman.

I am what many may refer to as the epitome of the American Dream. In 1995, on my 25^th birthday, I moved to California with $250 in my pocket, a duffle bag filled with clothes and an idealistic point of view. In the 16 years since then, I married the love of my life, had a beautiful daughter, and made millions of dollars in the media business. And no, I did not come from money. I do not have a law degree or an MBA. And, I did not attend an Ivy League College. Like many of you, I simply abided by the laws of the land, worked really, really hard, and achieved my version of the American Dream. And like the majority of you, I voted for President Barack Obama, despite the wealth that I’ve accumulated (which would have made Romney a better financial choice for me if I were a selfish person), because I believe in a strong, prosperous nation, buoyed socially and economically by its middle-class. Besides, who wants to leave the security of their gated communities and get carjacked because civil unrest is taking over due to financial suffrage by the masses. Not me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, a decision has been made. A referendum of sorts. And as a result, one could argue that a shift in the balance of power has taken place. On Tuesday, November 6^th 2012, the American People made a choice, in decisive fashion. We took back our America. We chose not to let the election be bought and sold by the robber-barons of this country. We chose to exercise our substantial power. The People’s power. We chose to re-elect President Barack Obama, who just may well be the most consequential person in modern history… well, at least, in my lifetime. A man of truth. A man of integrity. A man of courage. And before Tuesday, a man besieged by a right-wing-fringe group within the Republican Party, known as, “The Tea Party”, which had taken the American People and its government hostage. And by the way, they have held the more reasonable Republicans hostage as well, not just the President; consequently, creating democratic gridlock. Using tactics of intimidation - carrying guns to political rallies, screaming out treasonous, racial epithets directed at the President of our United States, purposely spewing ideological hatred, propaganda and misinformation to the American People in public forum, and openly calling for revolution (Donald Trump beware) against fellow Americans, should be denounced and ostracized by, We, The American People. I’ll go so far as to say, that maybe they should be treated as a threat to the National Security of this great country. Ultimately, I’ll leave that up to the lawmakers, because there seems to be a blurry line between freedom of speech and treasonous rhetoric. Either way, that kind of behavior should not be tolerated in America and we’ll need to eradicate such civil insurgency to bring this country together, in order to survive as a nation.

That brings me to my next point. There will be a lot of opinion-makers who are going to write about our President’s latest battle with these uninformed, partisan, ideologues – the “fiscal cliff”. They’ll write that the “fiscal cliff” is approaching at light speed, and we must act quickly… and they will be right. There’s been a clear choice of direction by the people, yet the GOP refuses to budge on their intractable stance of not raising taxes. Regardless of their intransigency, all of our taxes increase automatically on January 2^nd, 2013, with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. I could spew all the rhetoric about Tea Party favorite Paul Ryan’s mathematically-impossible-mystery-budget-plan that could be cataclysmic to our country’s economic prospects if the terrorists get their way. The core of their philosophy is that they want to put more money in the pockets of rich people who don’t need the money by giving them tax cuts, increasing the debt to the tune of another $5 trillion over 10 years, which would place the majority of the burden of debt reduction on the middle class, seniors and the poor, by cutting the programs that benefit them most. I could espouse about how President Obama’s plan simply asks people who are still prospering during these tough economic times to do their civic duty and pay their fair share, since they’ve already benefitted from the inequities of the system. I could really be a policy wonk and tell you that 8% of spending cuts in the President’s plan come from low-income and anti-poverty programs, while 58% of the cuts in Ryan’s plan come from low-income programs. I could tell you that the President’s plan has a balanced approach, raising revenues for the country by asking the wealthy to pay a slight bit more in taxes, while cutting $640 billion in spending over the next 10 years; while Ryan’s plan, which the GOP seems to love, will likely increase spending at least $3 trillion during the same time period by adding unsolicited increases in defense spending, along with Medicare and other programs, that undoubtedly will benefit the billionaires that have a hand in Ryan’s pockets. I could tell you that almost every “legitimate” (the GOP loves that word - Todd Akin) economist says that by adopting the President’s “go-big” approach we would stabilize the markets, boost economic growth and spur job creation by reducing the uncertainty about our economic and political future. I could tell you a whole lot of facts and figures, in order to impress you with my command of both the English lexicon and my eidetic memory or retention level of political talking points… but I’m not going to do that.

Instead, I’m going to say this. “It is really simple people. You already made the choice on November 6^th. Talk to your friends, neighbors and representatives. Galvanize your power. The People’s power. Ignore the propaganda. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Karl Rove and Grover Norquist have all gotten a resounding “F” grade from the People of the United States. They have been reduced to provocateurs, rabble-rousers, insurgents, and frankly, bad investments for billionaires (which is ironic, since they spent over $400 million to buy this election, but received $0 dollars returned on their investment, and are unwilling to pay a few dollars extra in taxes, which pales in comparison). Their time has ended. It’s time to work together, Republican and Democrat, to rebuild a better America. It’s time to look past the partisan rhetoric and regimes of the past. It’s time to throw out old, regressive ideas. The People have spoken. Now, it’s time to galvanize behind the President you re-elected, and the direction that he has chosen for us all, as one nation. Use your power people. You were not fooled. Whether you listen to my ramblings or know what the “fiscal cliff” actually means or not, is insignificant. I simply implore you to trust the President you’ve elected and scream from the rooftops in support of the President’s budget plan to avert the “financial apocalypse”. If you do so, we will all win… “as one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all…”

--- Darryl Taja

President of Epidemic Pictures & Management

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

What Conservative did to Christian

Every cable news show has weighed in on the failure of the GOP this election. Lots of experts and smart people have pointed at potential culprits for their profound losses. I’d be lying if I said that I was at all concerned about the tarnishing of the GOP brand. However, what concerns me is what their very off-message message has done to the GOD brand.

When I first became a Christian it was automatic. Like it was one of our civic duties, you believe in Jesus you vote GOP. If you didn’t, you were “secular” you were “worldly”. I know those things sound silly to be called, but they are grave insults to Christians. No one wanted to be those things. Those things meant that you didn’t love God and, in the Christian community how much you can talk about loving God is the gold standard of the who’s who.

I’ve always had a hard time around elections. During an announcement, a soft endorsement would come across a pulpit. A less than subtle reminder that we were supposed to vote against abortion rights, Gay rights, and any other kind of right that may impede our agenda. I was never all the way ok with it, but I won’t say that I didn’t go along. It was passive aggressive and, it always left me unsettled and uneasy. As a lifelong champion for the underdog and, a bleeding heart for any and all types of injustice, it never sat well with me. It didn’t change how I felt about Jesus, but it sure changed how I felt about the party.

I hate the fact that the GOP has the God market cornered. Despite the President openly declaring himself a born again Christian, no one really believes he’s an Evangelical. Evangelicals are bible-thumping, crazy, judgmental people who tell you, you’re going to burn in hell for your sins and, that tragedy is God’s will. He’s too intellectual, too interested in equal rights. He believes welfare should be a safety net, thinks that the judicial system needs sentence reform. He’s too okay with Gay marriage. It makes me uncomfortable. I’m all of those things, well maybe except for the intellectual part, but I know that I’m a Christian. Well at least I think? I’m not apostatizing. I just know that if the standard for belief is agreeing with the GOP’s platform, it’s going to take more than holy water to get me into heaven.

This election created a struggle for me. It’s embarrassing what the Conservative movement has made my faith look like. I feel forced to apologize for their behavior. Saying things like “I’m not one of those Christians”. I find myself trying to explain that though God has a “best life” He plans for you, He loves you whether you live it or not. Publicly, the zealots have reduced Christian to what degree of bigotry it supports. Privately, I pray more ardently for someone to come along and undo the damage the GOP has done. I want to be called something else. In the inner circles, we refer to ourselves as “Believers” not Christians. Christians are people who like to quote scripture and not live by any of the values they espouse. Believers are those that say remarkably little about the scripture they know and live the power of that scripture out loud.

The semantics make me feel better. It gives me a little room to breathe and a safe place for my faith. What of those who don’t have that space? What about the people who meet Christians or worse yet see them on TV and have no idea and no way of telling the difference? Kim Kardashian calls herself a Christian, so does Oprah, TD Jakes, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Bishop Gene Robinson, Clay Aiken and Joel Osteen. By God’s rules, they all can be Christians, by our rules? Not so much.

Kim has a sex tape, Oprah talks about there being other paths to God than Jesus, Jakes is the real deal but his wealth makes people uncomfortable. Beck is crazy, O’Reilly an unapologetic and insulting blowhard. Bishop Robinson is an openly gay priest. Aiken denied being gay forever but, we all knew better and, Osteen is the reigning king of Evangelical Christian television with the biggest mega-church in the country. I doubt that any of the people on this list would say that their faith is questionable to them.

My frustration with the popular idea of what Christian means keeps me up at night. I enjoy my relationship with my God and His Son. I am passionate about it. I want to share that relationship. I want to tell people that it’s the source for my life without it muddled by some outlandish agenda I don’t support. The GOP has all but robbed me of that privilege. It has tainted, corrupted and made demagogues of us. It has abused us in intimate ways that profoundly wound. It has surged up through the cracks in the pavement like magma and dried cold and hard locking many out and scorching whatever it didn’t bury. Like the post civil rights home grown terrorists, so called “good” Christians have made it that much harder to fight the good fight.

My God is not a God of racism, misogyny, homophobia, inequality, malice or abuse. However, my best efforts may never be able to change the minds of those that His name has been used to vilify, contain or oppress. I struggle with wanting my faith to be impactful enough to overwhelm the abusers of it, who, determined to establish their own dogmatic righteousness, ignore the real impact of using God to get rich, famous or, both. I wonder about the generation left in the wake of this raping of religion. I pray for the sons and daughters of Gay Americans, told that their parents were less than full citizens. I wonder about the children whose parents died fighting insurance companies because health care is still a for-profit and uncompassionate institution. I hurt for the children of immigrants that listened to their parents referred to as illegals as if their very existence were criminal. The war orphan because veteran care costs too much or the homeless child sleeping in shelters or park benches because the party of God sees no need to care for the poor.

If you believe in God, nothing I just said can sit well with you, because you know that at the beginning and end of all that matters to God is justice, fairness and love. The GOP didn’t just destroy their chances of “taking back” America. They may well have created an America where the fear of God isn’t reverence for Him, but a literal fear of what happens if the god they serve gets his (their) way.

Dear GOP, if America becomes an atheist nation, you built that.

Sincerely,

One pissed off believer sick of you maligning my faith.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I Stand Corrected...This is OUR America

Yesterday I proposed that this election was not a question of whom we elect as president, but rather to whom does America belong (see Nobody Wins). This morning I woke up whistling Nina Simone "Feelin’ Good". The American people have spoken. President Barack Obama was re-elected in a decisive victory both in the popular vote and the Electoral College. The state of New Hampshire elected an exclusively female delegation. The first female Senator from the state of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, ousted Scott Brown. The first openly Gay Senator, Tammy Baldwin, joined the ranks of our public servants. Virginia, my beloved, had me biting my nails until nearly midnight, handed Romney and Allen pink slips. This morning America is not theirs, it is OURS, and I have never been so proud to stand corrected.

There was a subtle hypnosis in the framing of the campaigns. Forward, believe, though I do not pretend that I’m versed on the intricacies of mind control, I think it goes without saying we are all susceptible to some degree of suggestion. Perhaps that better embodies how and why the election went the way it did than anything that the talking heads can provide? Maybe that explains why the changing electorate so decisively cast their votes in the President’s direction? Or why so many Americans fell in lock step with a candidate that could not decide or articulate what his core values were? Because we wanted to move forward, we wanted to believe.

To Romney’s credit, he ended his near decade long campaign for the White House with grace and elegance. Though to some it appeared less than genuine. Like a well-trained butler, he demurely left you feeling served and appreciated, though his heart be elsewhere. I must say that I was most proud of the comportment and decorum of his audience. After the outright shenanigans of the RNC, they chose to end their election hopes with a clear tone of allegiance that trumped their clearly broken dreams.

When President Obama took the stage last night, he solidified for us all that as Chris Matthews would say, the appeal to the better angels, was worth the fight. After 18 months of emails, conference calls, door knocking, grit and grind, he thanked America. He assured us “the best days of our great nation are yet to come”. He reminded me that my experience of the world is not my children’s. As I prepare them for life and teach them the values we hold dear, values like fairness, love, honor and gratitude are not just limited to our family but shared by our nation. Love him or hate him, there is no one living better at delivering a speech than he.

Though I did not cry the way I did in 2008, I felt a swelling pride and a hopeful exuberance. Yes Mr. President the best IS yet to come. Through a coalition of Blacks, Whites, Asians, Latinos, young, old, Men, Women, Gays, married, singles, religious and secular we must govern and lead. Where there is pessimism and fear the best of America cannot exist, cannot thrive. For so many, last night hope and hard work, challenge and opportunity, converged in a fitting mosaic of the American people. Last night American remained the first word that our citizens identify as.

In the cynical game of politics, little is ever just what it seems. There's some inference drawn from the data, the exit polls, and the 538 prediction. (Allow me to take a moment to drop the mic on Nate Silver’s behalf.) The victory was rousing. The failure of the movement to take America back from the arms of the progress that have embraced her was epic. Despite the pride, I have in my country, and how much more the history of my family in this country means to me, I know that there are difficult days ahead. There are tough decisions to face, more work to do and, I am confident that hope that will carry us forward. Hope in our shared goals and shared vision of the American dream enduring. It is hope that will carry us through the tightening we may feel, the choices we will have to make. Both sides asked for a “collective bargain” to fix the problems we face. However, this election has made us examine the daunting cost of progress.

The roughly $2 Billion dollar tab has cast a glaring spotlight on the American way of securing our future. It has also shed light on the dark presence looming on the horizon. It is a game changer without an easy answer or quick fix. The fiscal cliff is coming and, most of America has no idea what that means. Though we should all pause and acknowledge that today is a time for celebration, tomorrow's tests will not wait for our glasses to empty, or the parties to play their last song. Tomorrow hope must be replaced with solutions and leave a seat at the table for those that feel that their America has left them behind.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Nobody wins...

Over the last few days, I have gone about the difficult task of wrapping my head around the idea of a President Romney. I know that there is a greater chance of his election than I care to admit. Despite the best efforts of the campaign and the left, we may lose this thing.
I fought the vomit I felt rising in my throat as I read Peggy Noonan’s column. She referenced the quiet, near invisible shift from “anyone but Obama” to “our guy Romney”. I’ve watched people scratch their heads and muddle through not being able to believe that we’re even in this position. It is a race so close that the pundits have rolled out the scenario map. What happens if it is a split between the popular vote and the Electoral College? What happens if it is a recount? What if? What if? What if?
In a race between the first African-American President and the first Mormon contender, the subtle nuances of race, religion and long-held prejudices, have shown their head time and time again. I've had many conversations about how and why this is even possible. How Romney could even come close to ousting President Obama when this election is a no-brainer. There have been at least a few pieces written asking the question “How does the GOP get voters to vote against their own interests?” I know that there are many people who will not share my views. So I begin by saying this is MY OPINION.
As a woman who has spent most of her life having predominantly white friends and in one interracial relationship or another, I see race and its impact differently from many people who I know. I’ve written a lot about being the only minority in the room. As a woman, a person of foreign decent, a person of color, and being all of those things while being at first a Conservative, then later in my life as the only Liberal. I still was not prepared for what having a White husband and children of mixed descent was going to mean.
There is a palpable distrust that my Black friends with Black husbands do not experience. Though the lighter complexion and my daughters’ ridiculously long hair are sometimes appeasing (to others) and on many occasions celebrated (by most), there is a subtle outrage over our marriage. The disgust does not just come from White people, but by all races. In the quiet current that runs beneath the comments made and the looks, stares and glares we still get, the feeling that the response is largely due to our interracial marriage is always somewhere lurking in the shadows of the conversation.
It is the worst with Christian, married Whites especially Women. One of the most sought after demographics in this election. When I was in high school, I remember my (White) boyfriend’s mother saying to my mother “they’ll grow out of this”. Grow out of it meant we’d leave our relationship behind. We would settle down with appropriate partners, partners of our respective races. There is something in the ethos of whom we are that says that provides a certain degree of latitude for experimentation. The thought is; there comes an age when we're supposed to return to tradition and norms, upholding order.
As a nation, we are facing a similar set of circumstances. We’ve been dating the Black guy for 4 years now. It has been quite serious, he has met the parents, come home on holiday, is in a few family photos. It looks like he just might pop the question. He would no longer be the guy their kid dated in college, he would no longer be like family. He would be family. Suddenly, inexplicably the beloved boyfriend finds himself on the cold shoulder. Her parents just are not ready to call him a son-in-law.
Just like the college sweetheart rebuffed the difference is in the permanence and what it forces us to address. The kids that may be born, the reaction of the neighbors, the discrimination we know that they will face if they go through with it. The feelings we may not address having because when we are racially homogeneous we can ignore them. A second term would make President Obama America’s son and not the adolescent rebellion boyfriend. It would be the punctuation on the sentence. The guard has changed. Hear me out.
There is a certain amount of privilege afforded to being White in this country. If Romney, especially given the circus style rolling calamity of a campaign, attains the highest office in the land, it preserves the notion that being White ultimately has a reward. Its value demanding protection. It reaffirms that, despite all evidence to the contrary, my success is not just based on my personal efforts, but is overwhelmingly supported by my racial identity and gender. Therefore, the vote cast is in my best interest even if the policies are not. Inelegantly put, it is the most formidable countermeasure to affirmative action that we can use.
A genuine understanding of this requires that we do not look at it as blatant racism. Honestly it is not that simple. Just like pretty women know that they will invariably have more doors opened for them or asked out on more dates. There is a gentle awareness of an advantage that others are not afforded. Especially if, those utilizing it see it as a valuable resource. What is racism are the active measures that prevent recalibration toward a society where that antiquated belief is no longer a legitimate point.
A Romney win would preserve that ideal. A Romney administration restores an old order of things. Conceivably, it says we have grown up. We stopped dating out of rebellion or coolness or as a social provocateur and married "sensibly". Like the kids that I hung out with in high school who almost exclusively dated interracial are now all married to partners of their own races. As if on cue, we have become the parents we fought against, disillusioned by how the world works, we gave into maintaining order at the sake of progress.
Romney said it on the campaign trail. If President Obama is re-elected, and Republicans and the Tea Party retain control of Congress, there will be more grid-lock than we saw his first term. If Romney wins Congress will magically coalesce like a fireside kum-ba-yah and get all of his agenda passed. The same guy they called an outsider, code name, not a real conservative, during the primary season, whose Religion was a cult. Not so ironically, the only thing more dangerous to the traditional power structure than being rich and Mormon, is Black, educated, mildly arrogant (we call it swag) and socially mobile.
Race is not something we discuss in this country, and because of that no one will comfortably say it, not without being labeled a racist. It will get a passive endorsement with gut wrenching impact. This election is not and has never been about policy, economics, spending, jobs, government size, women’s rights, immigration or anything else, except in ways that those things pertain to the re-establishment of what norms we want to protect. The question voters will answer is not one of whom our president will be, but rather to whom does America belong? Are voters taking back "their America" or have we definitively decided it is OUR America?
The fracture this election has created or should I say revealed, no president alone can repair. America is not financially broken; her shambles are not economic. The greatest tragedy of this election will ultimately be destroying the notion of Her as united. For a country whose name speaks to that single idea, what that will cost no deficit tracker will ever be able to measure. When this historic election closes there will always remain the byline, regardless of whom won, without a real dialogue on race, nobody wins. Of all things, that is the most contemptible debt our children can inherit.

Friday, November 2, 2012

It's not just Lena Dunham...

We have seen and heard many things that have troubled us this election season. We have seen abortion rights become fodder for a disturbing discussion about rape. We have listened to GOP Congressmen and Senators stumble, muddle and outright insult their way through “inarticulate” attempts at defending their version of a pro-life platform. We watched the insanely hypocritical reaction to the Lena Dunham ad comparing voting to one’s first sexual experience. Can the GOP call her ad crazy when they released campaign ads encouraging women to vote for “the cute one”. There has been relentless intrusion into the most personal of possessions that a woman owns, that being her body.

Yesterday, I sent out a tweet asking the GOP and its candidates to stop discussing, legislating and pandering to vaginas. They do not vote. However, the women who have them, do. We’d prefer they were no longer discussed like retail space in a new store front. They are not yours they are ours. The discussion about what we do with them has nothing to do with your political gain, but in exceptional irony who we vote for has everything to do with protecting our right to keep the choices we make with them personal. Much like dating and your sex life there should be an expectation of privacy. To do that we have to allow ourselves to let it be personal, Lena Dunham was anything but off base.

Just as I was climbing unto my soap box and was about to launch another twitter rant a follower of mine sent me this in response. I thought her articulation of the similarity between voting and relationships is masterful. These are her words. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did…

“Ladies, Young Ladies and Women, in case you're still an

#undecided voter.

I've found it helpful, over they years, to bring world issues close to home to get a better understanding of what's occurring.

I equate voting for a President to getting married. Voting, like marriage, is a contract. We pretty much commit to being in a relationship (monogamous or otherwise) with this person, the party, its platform and policies he/she represents, for the next FOUR (4) years.

It's been my experience that many women invest more time and energy finding that perfect top to go with a pair of slacks or skirt, getting the right dress for an important occasion or choosing a matching shade of nail polish to go with an outfit, yet I don't often see that same eagle-eye discernment when selecting or accepting men they go out with or open their legs for, let alone marry.

It may be important to pay attention to, PRIOR to making that commitment/contract, and take a GOOD look at some key indicators for short and long term compatibility. For instance:

What does this person SAY and DO while courting/campaigning?
Is he consistent? Does he walk his talk - meaning does he do what he says he will do? In instances where he DOESN''T - does he make amends to your satisfaction?
Is he honest? Does he tell YOU the truth?
Does he have YOUR best interest at heart?
What about birth control, condoms, safe sex?
In instances where you disagree, is he willing to compromise?
How does he speak TO YOU?
Have you met his family, friends, co-workers? What's your impression of them?
How does he speak ABOUT you to his family, friends, his buddies, when you're not around (i.e. behind closed doors)?
What about his ex(es)? How is their relationship NOW? How do they speak about him?
And what about finances? Is he gainfully employed? Does he wine and dine or shine and whine? When you're in a pinch, does he help you out or are you on your own?

These same types of questions can be asked about any candidate, whether it be for a relationship or political office.

It's BEST to discover as much as you can ahead of time. If he's not measuring up now, what makes you think he's going to do any differently AFTER the marriage/election?

This election is too important. ANY Presidential election is important. WHY? Even though I consider the office of the #POTUS as figurehead, whomever occupies that office has the power to do TWO major things: send men and now women to die (war) and determine who gets the FINAL say-so in deciding key issues by whom he suggests for the #SCOTUS.

So after weighing the questions above, whose proposal do you accept for this marriage/election?”

-Zena Llenar
you can follow her on twitter @zenallenar